Valteri School’s lighting solutions support the everyday lives of children with sensory sensitivities

Senate Properties owns only a handful of school buildings in Finland, one of which is the Valteri School in Oulu. The life cycle of the protected barracks building continued when the property was transformed into a low-carbon and accessible school with high-quality lighting that supports the everyday lives of children with sensory sensitivities.

Low-carbon space transformation from barracks to school

Valteri Tervaväylä’s Merikartano unit was renovated with new premises in the K6 building owned by Senate Properties in Intiö, Oulu. Sweco was responsible for the electrical design and lighting design of the project. The Valteri Learning and Guidance Centre operates under the Finnish National Agency for Education, so the renovated school building is also owned by the state and not by the municipality.

“Another exceptional thing about the building is its eventful history and how the purpose of use of the building has been flexibly changed over time to meet the needs of the moment,” says Teemu Vuolle, Construction Manager at Senate Properties.

The K6 barracks building was completed in 1954 and served as a barracks until the turn of the 2000s, when the building was converted into an office buildingIn the completed renovation, the protected building was transformed into a school that included, for example, learning and therapy facilities, a gymnasium, a canteen and a preparation kitchen for grades 1–6.

According to Vuolte, Senate Properties always strives to utilise the existing building stock in accordance with corporate social responsibility, which proved to be a successful solution at Valteri School by all indicators. During the project planning, the possibility of new construction was also studied.

“The renovation of the K6 building was the best and most socially responsible option in terms of both carbon footprint and costs. The change in space will secure the use of the protected building for decades to come.”

Lighting solutions support the unhindered everyday life of schoolchildren

Goals for lighting were defined already in the project planning. One of the most important things was accessibility. The everyday life and visual ergonomics of children with sensory hypersensitivity are supported by high-quality luminaires with a better colour rendering index than usual (CRI90).

“The surface materials and colours are therefore as correct as possible,” says Sweco’s lighting designer Riina Kittilä. In addition, the lights must not dazzle or cause strong light patterns on the walls due to variations in light and shadow.

The colour temperature of white light can be adjusted in all student spaces, which helps, for example, in managing the daily rhythm of students on the autism spectrum. Light also has a guiding function. Moving from one space to another is supported by light lines on both sides of the corridors with a higher than normal glare rating (UGR<16).

“Instead of a single light line, we use two, so that the surface brightness of the luminaires is lower, but the amount of light is sufficient,” Kittilä explains. Thanks to the luminaires with microprism protection the light surface of the light lines is uniform. In classrooms, the surface brightness of the luminaires is controlled by lens optics. “It provides the required amount of light in the space, but the luminaire itself does not create a disturbingly strong light surface in the users’ field of vision.”

The gym emphasises the good colour rendering of the luminaires, and indirect light sources inside the structure have been used in the upper parts of the walls. According to Kittilä, the luminaires have a lower surface brightness in the recess yard, which means less annoying glare than lens optics luminaires. “The luminaires have also been placed more densely than usual, so that the ground surface is illuminated more evenly and there are no large areas of light, shadow or spot-like light areas in the yard.”

Teachers were instructed in modern lighting control

In classrooms, lighting control is exceptionally versatile. If necessary, each student receives a personalized lighting condition when the teacher controls the brightness and color temperature of the lights above each desk from the touch screen according to the student’s needs.

In order to get the most out of the lighting control system, Sweco’s lighting designers held a workshop for teachers during the design phase to investigate lighting needs in different teaching situations. In addition, the contractor instructed teachers on the use of lighting.

“The user guidance helped to engage the staff in using the new technology. After all, even the highest quality systems are of no use if users do not know how to use them,” Vuolle emphasises.

BIM helped coordinate electrical engineering

Transforming the barracks building, which had just turned 70, into an accessible school was quite a puzzle in terms of electrical engineering. “The fundamental problem was the building’s limited room height and the adaptation of today’s technical building systems to the premises, as the amount of technology required in school buildings has grown almost exponentially compared to past decades,” Vuolle says.

Space challenges were tackled with careful BIM. “All electrical engineering, from cable trays to cable routes, was renewed, and at the same time electricity distribution became more efficient,” says Joonas Mällinen, electrical designer at Sweco.

The two-part building previously had only one main switchboard, and cable routes ran from there to the switchboards on different floors. “Now the distribution boards are located in the IV engine rooms of both building parts, so the cable routes to different parts of the school are shorter. It saves materials,” Mällinen says.

The pupils started the school year in the new premises in autumn 2024, and Vuolte thinks that both the overall quality of construction and satisfied users are a sign of success. “It’s a real crown for a five-year project! Especially the accessibility and colour scheme of the premises have received a lot of praise from users, and the lighting conditions are also related to this.”